BOROUGH'S bid for their first Darwen Snooker League title in years is hotting up!

They trimmed a couple of points off Cemetery A's eight-point lead last week when they whitewashed Prince while the Cem were dropping two points against Top Con A.

Early in the season it was any odds against a Borough championship. They had lost heavily in three of their first five games and looked set for another disappointing season.

Says skipper Barry Ardis: "Suddenly we hit form - and we haven't looked back. There's a tremendous team spirit. We have a regular squad of about 10 players and my main problem every week is in deciding who to leave out.

"Unless they are working late they are all there well before the start of a match and they don't dash off. It has to be between us and the Cem the way the lads are playing. We're buzzing. We're confident."

Steve Aspinall has been in tremendous form this season. He missed the first three games, but out of 14 since then he has lost only one - a 50-48 black-baller against Rob Rice of the Punch. Steve has led the way but everyone has played a part in a team that has a good blend of youth and experience.

Since that wobbly start, they have lost only one match, narrowly away to Cemetery A, and have notched five 8-0 wins.

There are just seven games to the end of the season and Cemetery A have by far the tougher run-in.

Borough are 6/4 on, with Cem A at 5/4 and it's 10/1 Punch, Uncle Jack's and Top Con B.

Other games tonight: Top Con A v Top Con B, Anchor v Punch, Prince v Uncle Jack's, Cemetery B open date. Tomorrow: Top Con C v Alexandra A.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.